dinopediafandomcom-20200222-history
Talk:Giganotosaurus/@comment-2001:5B0:45C5:8070:0:FF:FEBF:47BF-20180127010243
Giganotosaurus and its Carcharodontosaurid relatives actually survived to the end of the Cretaceous Period. The proof is in the features of Late Cretaceous Abelisaurids. These Abelisaurids had bony knobs covering their back. These knobs would have provided some minor protection from small, or medium-sized theropods, but where they really counted was in defense of Giganotosaurus ''and its relatives. These Carcharodontosaurids had thin, serrated, and extremely sharp teeth. These spectacular teeth gave these predators an edge, which enabled them to conquer every continent by the Mid-Cretaceous. The teeth were designed to slice through thick flesh and hide like paper, causing massive damage to to muscles, veins, and arteries. This gave them an even more devastating bite than the Tyrannosaurids, in fact. Tyrannosaurid teeth are thick and conical, but rather dull in comparison to the teeth of other theropods. They are designed for crunching bones and immobilizing prey. The teeth of the Carcharodontosaurids, however, tear open muscles and arteries instead of targeting the bone. The prey goes into shock and bleeds to death in minutes, that is if it even survived the bites. This is why Carcharodontosaurids could afford to have weaker bite forces than Tyrannosaurids. They simply didn't need to crush bones. They could kill even more effectively. Anyway, these bladelike teeth did have a weakness. Since they were thin, if they struck bone too hard, they would break or chip. This is why the Abelisaurids evolved the bony knobs covering their back. These knobs would deter a large Carcharodontosaurid from biting the back of a comparatively puny Abelisaurid. Late-Cretaceous Abelisaurids, such as ''Carnotaurus, had these bony knobs, too. This proves that large Carcharodontosaurids, possibly even Giganotosaurus ''itself, were present in South America and Africa at the end of the Cretaceous period. Unfortunately, though, ''Giganotosaurus may have foiled the Abelisaurids' anti-carnosaur defences by knocking the Abelisaurid over with its massive head. This might explain one of the purposes of the unusually thick crests on Giganotosaurus's head. Argentinosaurus ''actually did live alongside ''Giganotosaurus. ''They both existed around 100-80 million years ago in Argentina (''Giganotosaurus ''may have survived later into the Cretaceous Period). ''Giganotosaurus ''fragments have even been found in close proximity to ''Argentinosaurus bones, suggesting a predator-prey relationship. A lone Giganotosaurus '' would have absolutley no effect whatsoever on a fully-grown ''Argentinosaurus, so Giganotosaurus most likely hunted in packs, like its close relative, Mapusaurus. If giant Carcharodontosaurids, like Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus, hunted in packs, then these apex predators may have been more intelligent than previously thought. Ekrixinatosaurus was a small genus of Abelisaurid, no more than 20 feet long. It posed absolutely no threat to a 48-foot Carcharodontosaurid. Ekrixinatosaurus ''hunted light, agile Iguanodontids, such as ''Ouranosaurus, and possibly also hunted some smaller sauropods, like Amargasaurus. Giganotosaurus ''did hunt those herbivores, but its attention was mostly turned to giant Titanosaurid sauropods, like ''Andesaurus, Futalongkosaurus, ''and ''Argentinosaurus. Ekrixinatosaurus ''and its fellow Abelisaurids never even laid a finger on the giant Titanosaurids, and therefore would not be any competition for ''Giganotosaurus. Also, at the time, Carcharodontosaurids (including Neovenatorids) were already top predators on every continent, including North America. They only disappeared from North America, Europe, and Asia about 80-75 million years ago. Nobody really knows why this happened. It could be due to the rise of Ankylosaurids. There are even some suggestions that Siats, or other North American Carcharodontosaurids, survived until 65 million years ago and were comtemporaries with Tyrannosaurus. Perhaps T. rex scavenged off the kills of the larger, more active Carcharodontosaurids. Giganotosaurus and many of its relatives were far bigger than T. rex. Giganotosaurus ''and its African 'sister' species, ''Carcharodontosaurus, were much bigger than the largest Tyrannosaurus, Sue. Sue was 40.5 feet, and Giganotosaurus ''could grow up to 48 feet, maybe even 49. The article that one of you posted said that ''Giganotosaurus was lighter than Tyrannosaurus, but that was using its lower estimate (43-45 feet). Like Scott Harman said, if the upper estimate from the jawbone was used (48-49 feet), then Giganotosaurus '' would be substantially heavier than ''T. rex. A factor to consider when having discussions with people who claim things about Giganotosaurus ''that are not true is that many people have an emotional attachment to ''T.rex. They feel threatened by Giganotosaurus. They feel like Giganotosaurus ''has usurped ''T.rex's title as 'largest carnivorous dinosaur.' This feeling can be difficult to reason with, and people come up with bizzare things that they cannot prove in order to somehow make T.rex '''better' than ''Giganotosaurus. When dealing with animals, there is no 'better.' Different animals have different adaptations and lifestyles. No animals are 'better' than any other animals on all fronts. Animals have their own strengths and weaknesses. This holds true for giant theropods. Giganotosaurus ''is not 'better' than ''T.rex, nor is T.rex '''better' than ''Giganotosaurus. Giganotosaurus is bigger, faster, and has a deadlier bite than Tyrannosaurus,'' but ''Tyrannosaurus ''is lighter, more opportunistic, and has a higher bite force than ''Giganotosaurus. The bottom line is: T.rex ''and ''Giganotosaurus ''were both highly adapted, powerful, and successful predators. Good ol' ''T.rex may not be biggest or deadliest predator anymore, but it certainly is the champion bone crusher, with a bite force of 4 tons. Also, T.rex ''is undoubtedly one of the most popular dinosaurs ever. ''Giganotosaurus ''may someday claim a place among the popular, 'classic' dinosaurs, but it will never take the place of ''T.rex